


Yggdrasil

by NocturneAnimus



Category: Original Work
Genre: Demon Hunters, Demon possession, Fantasy, Magic, Multi, Steampunk
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-11-20
Updated: 2014-11-20
Packaged: 2018-02-26 07:59:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,121
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2644217
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NocturneAnimus/pseuds/NocturneAnimus
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In a land of arcane demons and mythical gods, mankind strives to survive a war on both fronts as they fight to hold their ground. One organization will bare their fangs against the forces of light and dark alike and set their roots in a new word for the human race. Their name is Yggdrasil.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Broken Reverie

**Author's Note:**

> Ok, this is my first work, so be gentle. Ive been working on these ideas for a long time and finally took the time to write them down. Notes on the bottom.Enjoy!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dawn breaks on a new day in a strange land. Where will the pathways of destiny lead our heroine, and how will she fight against the path set for her?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So it begins! Note at the bottom. Enjoy!

As the sun rose into the sky, the smog that choked the horizon cast lines of golden light, and purple shadows across the city of Svartlhiem. As the light cascaded into Anastasia’s room all she could be thankful for was that her bed was across from the window and not under it. Still the garish beams shot though the curtains and caught her eyes, causing her to awaken even further. As she turned over in her bed in an attempt to get a couple more minutes of rest, a knock came thundering across her bedroom door.

“Miss Anastasia. Miss Anastasia it is time to wake up.” The soft voice of the maid outside only served to irritate her, yet warranted her full attention. As she prided herself from her sheets, the maid came in and began to make Anne’s bed behind her. Anne made her way into the bathroom and began to brush her teeth lazily while another maid drew her morning bath. As she scowled down at the water with a mouthful of minty foam, she went over the list of things to do for the day. 

“wvat, deh ish iht” Anne mumbled around her toothbrush. The maid turned around to begin undressing her but was shooed off with the promise that she could fucking do it herself and that she was perfectly capable of drawing her own bath in the future. Anne knew they wouldn’t listen but it was wishful thinking to expect that they might let her one day. It was their job. 

“It is Thursday, the 4th of May. Why do you ask” Anne’s face brightened up almost immediately. Today, her package would arrive at the shop. She would have to get permission to leave the house but she would think of something. As she got hastily dressed, she could barely hold her excitement. She was half way through buttoning up her shirt when she heard a creak on the floor boards behind her. 

“I really hope you aren’t leaving the house in that boyish attire.” Anne turned to find her mother standing in her doorway. She was still in a night gown, and her pitch black hair was twisted every way but how it should, falling in to her emerald eyes that matched Anne’s so perfectly. The only real difference between their appearances was age really. Although their personalities were worlds apart. 

While Anne kept her hair neat and long and she preferred trousers and blouses over dresses and skirts, her mother Vivinette had hair down to her shoulders and wore long gowns and coats, as if just to cause her daughter to look more masculine in comparison. Anne knew that wasn’t true, but it was hard to try and be anything like her when they were so different.

“Annie, you really should try to be more feminine. As it stands, you’ll never be able to make a proper wife if you ‘wear the pants’ in the relationship.” Chuckling at her own joke, she walked over to Anne’s closet and began to rummage through a stack of boxes filled with outfits Anne could have only referred to as A waste of good zeddum about a hundred times. “You have so many beautiful dress in here. Why don’t you let them breathe a little instead of letting them rot in the back of your wardrobe?”

“Because, they’re garish and gaudy. Really, you pick out the most eye blistering shades of green sometimes, I actually feel like I’m going to go blind.” Anne watched as her mother tossed a muted forest green skirt onto her bed and a billowy blouse she did not know she owned. “Did you just come in here to use me as a doll or did you have something else in mind?” She didn’t mean to make it sound so sharp, but it was morning, and the morning was evil. Vivinette did not seem to notice.

“I’ll tell you at the breakfast table. Very important news.” She sat on the edge of her bed as Anne grimaced upon the selection spread onto her sheets. Sighing in defeat, she grabbed the shirt and tossed back her hair to slip it on.

“By the way. What are you getting dressed for anyway? Did you have plans for today?” Anne stalled while putting her arm into the loose fabric of the shirt. The material felt amazing on her skin, but the decadence of it all still disgusted her. “I was planning to, um, go to the market.” She could feel Vivinette’s eyes on her back as she quickly began buttoning up and reached for the skirt. Just before her hands could fall on the garment, her mother’s voice halted her.

“Oh gods, please tell me you aren’t going to that metal shop again.” She whined as she rose up to put her hands on her hips in the most authoritative stance she could muster at the time of day. “Anastasia, you need to find a new hobby. Spending all day in that hell hole you call a forge down in the basement all day and night is not how you’ll become a good wife. And look at yourself.” She reached out and grabbed one of Anne’s arms, squeezing the tight muscles under her skin. “you have the biceps of a man. Such a waste of such a body”

As Anne snatched her arm back she gestured to Vivinette’s own physique. “you aren’t very far off mom! You may have gotten soft, but you could still easily arm wrestle a fiend. And I could stand to lose a few pounds anyway. My ass isn’t getting any smaller.” 

“I still don’t want you going to that shack. You look like a dwarf, welding metal in that dark room.” As they made their way downstairs Anne could feel control over the situation deteriorating. She was losing the argument fast. She decided that the best option was to bribe her mother. “Okay. If you let me go to the shop, I promise to make you some new jewelry.” That got her attention. Suddenly she dropped into her chair at the table in the dining room. “Ugh, fine you little imp, you can go. But it better be good!”

Feeling proud of her self (if not a little bit annoyed that she would now have to buy gold as well), Anne sat down and began to dig into her breakfast, catching herself before swallowing her fork along with her eggs. “So what did you want to tell me about. What’s the big news?” she asked.

“Oh! That’s right. Anne, I wanted to tell you that tomorrow evening your fiancé will be arriving for his year of courtship.” Anne could feel her chest tighten in an instant, as if her mother’s words had taking hold of her throat and would not allow her lungs to take air. “I…I thought that it was next year? Didn’t you say…” She couldn’t even register the words her mother continued to speak as she tried to remember to chew, lest she choke on her bacon.

“Oh, you know these royal types. Can’t wait for their fish to even hatch before they eat them. Anyway, they should be within the town by the morning.” She drawled over her muffin and looked up to see Anne sweating in her seat, barely able to swallow. “Aw, your speechless, I didn’t know you were so excited to meet him.”

“Thrilled” Anne managed to get out. It was a lie. She had been dreading this date. She had hoped to at least get another year before being sold off to some fat ponce used to living with his silver spoon shoved comfortably up his noble ass, but to meet him so soon. She was only 18 for gods’ sakes. Vivinette gave her a smile that showed no sympathy for Anne’s plight “You don’t have to worry, the Miller family is said to produce quite fetching men. He should be quite handsome.”

Anne rose up from her seat and straightened her skirt quickly. “I’ll be headed out now mother.” She was feeling sick and she knew that hearing any more about this would cause her nothing but anguish. “Fine, fine. You can go. But take A maid with you. We need food for tomorrows feast.” She raised her hand to her cheek in thought “Hm, maybe tuna? Get a Tuna while you’re out won’t you dear? Thank you.”

As Anne made her way to the door she ducked her head into the kitchen. At the stove stood Erica, Anne’s favorite maid. She was thin and frail, scarlet locks falling over her back like fire. If she had more tone to her, Anne would envy a body like hers, devoid of all of the unnecessary lumps and curves she was cursed with. “Erica.” Anne called, causing the girl to jump. “yes miss Anne?”

“We’re going into town. Bring grocery money, we need to pick up a tuna.” As she cleaned her hands, Erica trotted over to grab a shawl and brought one for Anne as well. It was a knitted one that belonged to her grandmother. She really loved her and loved the scarf just as much, if not for the sentimental value, because it was simple and soft just like her grandmother. 

As they made their way out the door she could feel the sun on her face. She wondered if she would have to leave Svartlhiem when she was married. She loved this city and to leave it would kill a part of her. It was like her; rough and hot, yet beautiful and active. Hard gears and pipes running through grand gold and bronze towers that reached the sky. She was glad that it was tradition for the Man to court the betrothed in their own home, or she would have to leave her precious city for a year. She was relieved to know she would at least have one more to spend in it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, this story takes place in a kind of 18th century in a fantasy world of my own creation. The cities are all named after the realms of the world tree yggdrasil fro. Norse mythology, hence the name. Hope you liked it, the next chapter will have more angst and feelings in it.
> 
> Every chapter was inspired by the homestuck album cherubim and the chapter titles reflect that, sorry.


	2. The  Power of Fantasy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anne has a heart to heart and Erica braves the city in all of its glory

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, no idea how this site funtions, am I doing alright?

The sun was high in the sky by the time Anne and Erica had reached the tram stop. The light was shimmering of every gilded surface, ricocheting off of the copper gates and golden statues in the residential district. The class system was so clean cut in Svartlhiem that one could easily tell when they had stumbled into the wrong neighborhood. It was a good thing that the tram systems had been put into place to keep everything in their proper place. Everything was accessible through the trams, from the outer rings to the central city. The only thing keeping them apart were the tram stops; if you couldn’t reach it by tram you just couldn’t reach it.

Waiting patiently however was one of the only things Anne hated about these wondrous machines of order. She angled her head toward Erica who had brought a set of knitting needles with her, and was clacking away at some complex design. “Erica, I need to talk with you about something.” She said as tram slid into the station, riding the silvery rail above it to a halt. 

As the Doors hissed open, Anne climbed in she took a seat on an empty bench followed by Erica who crossed her hands on her lap. The Machine burst into life, engines roaring and steam hissing, and with a jolt they were moving along. They began to pick up speed and there was a heavy silence in between the hard clangs and clutters of the vehicle as it raced through the neighborhood. It was painfully clear that the maid was still waiting to be asked her question, leaving Anne no more time to wonder how to best breach the subject.

When it became apparent that this wasn’t going to die, she sighed heavily and cleared her throat. “Mother said I was to be married a year early.” She said. “She said that my fiancé was to arrive soon and that I would begin courtship this year.”

Erica seemed to light up at the news. “Oh, well that’s wonderful news” she exclaimed, laying a hand on Anne’s shoulder in a gesture that was meant to be congratulatory. “When will you be meeting him?” Anne tensed up immediately, fists bunching in her skirt. “That’s the thing! I don’t want to meet him!”

As the hand was drawn from her arm she brought them up to curl into herself, crossed over each other. “I thought I would have more time to come to terms with it” She muttered, turning away slightly to stare at the floor of the tram. “I thought I could just magically accept it if I had just one more year. But…” She looked out the window at the streets as they sped across street after street. “I don’t think I will.”

In the pause that followed, Anne continued to stare out the window. The scenery was not much more than blurs careening passed them as they rode, but she could tell they were reaching the inner circle. “Erica I’m scared.” Anne admitted with a sigh. “I’m scared and no one seems to understand.” She could feel herself shaking with quiet sobs as she fought back tears.

Erica shuffled closer to Anne and looped her arm over her friend’s shoulder, trying her best to be comforting. As she held the shaking girl, she took a glance out the window exactly as the tram broke through the buildings. As they shot out from the low line of houses, the city came in to view above them. 

Bright towers and brass pipes and rails framed the giant pedestal that Svartlhiem sat upon, like a great golden gleaming dragon coiled onto itself. Shining spires and billowing smokestacks led up to towering buildings cast in iron and copper. Refineries and great offices created a mountain of stone and metal. All throughout the city were pipes, choking out smog and steam into the clouds as if the city was a giant tea kettle. Anne had marveled at the sight time and time again, but it brought her no sense of wonder today. It simply loomed over her like a giant metal monster waiting to swallow her whole.

As the tram car rose up the rail they began to dock into the port of the center district. The din of the city was as clear as church bells through the steel doors as they hissed open. As Anne and Erica disembarked from the vehicle, the grand cities majesty, clearly seen from the tram, became swallowed by the towering buildings and spider web of pipes and clotheslines. It was chaos, and yet it sung to Anne in a way she could not describe. The sounds, hissing and clanking and shouting, were like music. The smells, steam, heat, food, grease and oil, like a perfume. And the she may have come from money, but her people lived her in the streets and shops. This was where she felt at home. With the metal.

As she breathed in the aroma of the streets, Erica held up a hankercheif to her nose to stifle the reek of the filth that surrounded her. “God’s own, this place smells. How do you even come out here on a daily basis?” Anne chuckled at her friend‘s distress and began to walk. She stopped laughing immediately as she tripped on her heels. How did her mother expect her to walk in these death-traps? She loved her boots. They don’t try to kill her whenever she steps out of the house.

When she felt more comfortable, the girls began their trip deep into the market district. Booths and kiosks littered the walkways as sellers and merchants tried to haggle with the locals. After twenty whole minutes trying to get a good deal for a massive tuna, Anne and her servant had their fish and started back towards the trams.

“Oh!” Anne interjected, quickly spinning around on her heel and nearly toppling over when they took her to far along and spun her a full 360 degrees “we need to go to vladamir’s.”

At this Erica’s face dropped and she grimaced as if she was asked to visit a mass grave. ”what? Wait, why? Oh god, please tell me we didn’t come out here to get more stuff for your smithy.” Anne turned on her and pointed an accusing finger in her direction. “It’s a forge dammit! Don’t slander it as some petty horse shoe factory!” Erica’s face was apologetic, but her tone was anything but sorry. “well, do we have to go to Vladamir’s? I mean he is so…unrefined! You shouldn’t be associating with people of his like. You’re a lady.”

Anne’s brow twitched as she finished and her eyes narrowed to glare at her maid. “GREAT! Now you’re going to tell me how to live as well. Why must I live by the rules of a society where I don’t fit into the grand scheme of things like some broken cog in the machine?” She began to stomp off without Erica, who followed after her at a distance, lest she begin to swing her fists. Anne may just be 18, but the girl had arms like tempered steel and fists that could cave skulls. “Why is it SO WRONG to want to LIVE! Really LIVE!” she stopped at the entrance to a shop in the high district with a glass door set in a golden frame. The sign read 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Vladamir’s Iron Fist: 

Bits, Bobbles, Dodads, And Doohickys.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

She turned to Erica, and the maid gasped when she saw tears streaming down from her green eyes, now with a border of pink from the oncoming break down struggling to be free. “I want to live as I want to live…Not how others want me too.” She sniffles and Erica passes her her handkerchief. She needs it more. “It’s okay.” She says as she wraps her arms around her pulling her to her chest. She strokes Anne’s hair and holds her close as Anne hiccups into her shoulder.

“Okay…lets go inside and get whatever you need for your smithy, alright?” Anne quickly jabbed Erica in the shoulder as she wiped her nose once more with the napkin. “It’s a FORGE. Damn, fine. Don’t touch ok?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, if you are trying to see the city in your mind's eye, imagine close quarters with tons of brass pipes everywhere. Like a massive low district.
> 
> Anyway that was part two. Anne bares her heart, while her maid shivers in horror at the disgusting conditions of inner-city living. New character in the next chapter. Whoo, lets keep the train rolling!


	3. Oil as Salve

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anne and Erica vist Vladimir. Hilarity ensues.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, I went into writing this one blind. Always looking for feedback, so comment If you like.

The entrance to Vladimir's Iron Fist was a much cluttered phenomenon. It was filled from corner to corner with bits and ends that to the untrained eye, would serve no greater purpose than a fancy, gold-plated door stop. But to Anne, the cogs and gears and fasteners were the small pieces of a grand design that could create anything. The parts of the city that no one saw, that in their absence, would be its very undoing. They made Svartlehìem MOVE.

To Erica's behest, they looked like a bunch of shiny bobbles that her mistress had no business bothering with, but she had had enough of her wailing and would much rather leave the shop and go home. She did not like Vladimir Strumforj. He was rugged, coarse, foul-mouthed, crass, and had no business in polite company of any nature.

As they moved through the front of the store, Anne began making a quick list of things that she would be coming back for. In the meantime, she had important tasks that needed to be completed.

"Vlad! Are you in here?" She shouted. They were both startled by a series of crashes that burst from the back of the shop, behind a curtain. As Anne went to go investigate, Erica began to back away, trying to put as much space between her and whatever catastrophe was behind the drape. As she retreated, she tripped over a ponderous gear lying on the floor and was sent stumbling backwards into a box full of old rags. It was all Anne could do not to burst out in laughter at the sight of her maid rising from the box, covered in oil stains.

Just before Erica could start yelling her disapproval with everything that this very property, its owner, and anyone who has ever stepped foot within its walls to purchase its services, The curtain in the back swept open to reveal a man in a long leather smock. Not only was this man tall, but he was muscular. He was hefting around a large hammer and his face was covered in soot and grease. His short, black hair sticks out in some places, but falls flat in front of his face. As he looks over the scene in front of him, he decides not to take the same precautions as Anne. 

He breaks down laughing.

"AH HA HA HA HA! Gods, what has happened here? Hello Little Annie, How does this day find you?" While Erica was shocked still by Vladimir's Raucous bellowing, Anne was fuming. She throws a punch much harder than her little jab at Erica earlier and nearly throws the hulking blacksmith of his feet.

"I've told you one thousand times that I do not want to be called that!" She snarls, already pulling back to deliver another punch if he continues. Rubbing his bruising arm, he chuckles in defeat. "Alright, alright. Ouch, point taken" turning toward Erica, he motions to the doorway behind the curtain. "We should get you cleaned up missy; you look like you tried to fornicate with an automaton."

Erica bristles and begins to curse up a very un-ladylike blue streak, but is saved from disgrace when Anne slaps her hand across her mouth, muffling any obscenities. "We came for my shipment Vlad. Has it come in yet-EW! Did you just lick me?" Erica only gives her a withering glance as an answer, and Anne removes her hand to wipe it on her fine dress. It was not going to be worn for a while anyway if she had anything to say about it, and the maids at home would most likely have it cleaned as soon as she walked into the bathroom for her afternoon bath that her mother INSISTED was supposed to be a normal practice. Seriously, who takes four baths a day?

Erica was quite literally the farthest thing from amused by anything that had happened today, any it was quite clear to Anne that she wanted nothing more than to burn the entire shop to the ground so she tried to hurry her transaction however possible. "Anyway, has my package come yet?" She turned to Vlad, who had begun to pick up some of the clutter from the floor. He glanced up looking for a moment like he had not heard, but then instantly shot up, clapping his hands in recognition. "Oh! Yeah, yes! Its right inside. Come on back. Oh, uhm" He turns to Erica, The maid having calmed down was now harboring little more than a frown as she looked over a chest plate while inspecting herself in the reflection. "She knows the rules right?" he asked, looking now to Anne.

Anastasia rolled her eyes and crossed her arms in indignation. "Of course I told her. What, do you think I would let her walk in crashing in to everything?" She then took the time to realize that she was not off to a good start, as her companion was now covered in grease spots "I'll keep her close."

As Erica rushed up to meet them at the door, Vladimir led them through a hallway. The corridor was filled with hissing pipes that occasionally spewed out steam in random streams. As they exited the hallway, they came into a large dark room. As far as any of them could see, it was pitch black. While Vlad went off, stumbling into the darkness, Anne and Erica could hear him cussing and grumbling under his breath. "Where is that damned...son of a blighted...when I get my fucking hands on-ARGH! SHIT!...oh, there it is"

The room came to life as the sounds of gears and pistons began to fill the space. The floor below them lit up and the fires of the hearth they stood above lit with flame. The entire room seemed to be sitting atop a giant furnace. The heat was incredible at first, nearly unbearable, but soon the fires cooled to a sow crackling and the blinding light of the inferno dimmed to a red glow that gave the room quite an imposing mode.

Everywhere one looked there were machines. Giant brass cauldrons hung from the ceiling while they traveled on belts above their heads. Boilers and furnaces belched flames and sparks as they heated up. The ever present sound of metal meeting metal was almost therapeutic in its constant rhythm.

Erica took all of this in with a feeling of reluctant wonder. That is, until something dropped down from high above to land on her shoulder.

"OH MY GODS!" As she fell back, Erica throws the offending object across the floor scampering into a pile of scrap metal and cloth. While Vladimir begins to laugh wildly, Anne goes over to check on her fallen maid. She is visibly shaken, but she still fixes her fiercest death glare on the black smith for finding her predicament hilarious. "What in the nine hells was that?!"

As Vladimir turned to see what all the commotion was, he burst into another bout of laughter. "Ha, oh that thing? Just a prototype for a new automaton. Nothing special." He waked over and scooped it up from the ground, turning it in his palm. It was a small device, almost the size as a bat ball. It was covered in glittering gold and jewels, and had a least three legs on each side of its globular body. "This little bot will revolutionize the manufacturing industry if-" at that moment, the small droid exploded sending small pieces of clockwork flying everywhere.

It was Erica's time to laugh this time, and Anne joined her as Vlad glared at them incredulously. "If I can keep them from doing THAT!" he finishes. He sets down the smoking remains of the machine that had the common decency to stay in his hand and not go flying down into the myriad of furnaces below the grid they stood upon. "Can't keep the things from blowing them sky fucking high! Oh well. Anyway, once I get them to work right they will be able to work in ways no human could ever dream. Pretty cool right?"

Anne picked up the small mechanical carcass and examined its working. "This is amazing Vlad!" she exclaimed "this device is leagues beyond whatever I could create! The leg joints are so smooth that it moves nearly organically. How did you-""Anastasia please! Can we grab whatever it is you came for and leave? I believe half of the apparatuses in here are winning at me menacingly!" Signing, Anne turned to see Vladimir already digging through a cluttered mess of creates and boxes. As Anne gazed around the forge, she saw a great many Infosys or scrapped projects. Mechanics made less money than blacksmith, so she could see how he would have little time for his personal keeps versus his current business. Everyone needed swords or guns, even gears and springs. Pays were cheaper to buy than a whole machine. 

"AHA! FOUND IT!" Vlad came crashing through his stacks of parts, holding a huge create over his head. As he let it drop to the floor, the grates heavily beneath them forcing Erica to hold on to Anne for support. The crate was easily twice her weight and fairly large. As he pried the top open with his bare hands, Erica became a little more frightened of the man. "There it is. Two thousand ingots of the finest musplhiem forged titanium steel. Anything you forge with this stuff will live longer than a banshees grudge! Just for you my young apprentice." he ruffles her hair and fetches a trolley for the crate.

As Vladimir made his way back to the front of his store, Erica pulled Anne close. "You are not REALLY in apprenticeship with this man are you?" she hissed. "He is abominable and I strongly recommend you don't associate with him!" 

Anne sighed heavily and turned on her maid with a withering glance. "Are you really going to go into this now? We are almost done here, you could at least be polite for the next couple of minutes, and rant on the way home." she was getting a little irritated again, but she was drowning it under her excitement for her new materials. She quickly rushed to the counter and as soon as she saw Vlad rounding up her prices (with generous discounts, no one would be able to afford the tab Anastasia had amassed at this store) she remembered her promise to her mother. 

"Oh, damn. I'm going to need about one pound of gold as well." She cringed at the look Vladimir gave her. "Oh don't look at me that way, it's for my mother." She walked over to the counter and looked through the glass, glancing over the gems in the display case. "Ugh, and a few pieces of jewelry grade tourmaline. You know how she is with her accessories. 'If it doesn't bring out your eyes, any wear it?' I swear." Anne began to snicker to herself when Erica interrupted from behind.

"You are just like her then. You have emeralds by the case load in your smith-forge. I swear, the stones are just lying around on the floor. I step on a standard twelve every time I pass by the room." She crosses her arms as Anne scoffs.

Vladimir Just chuckled as he handed Anne the receipt. "Well that settles up everything here. The gold will be an extra120 zenni, of course. The gems however, are on the house. You tell your pretty little mother that I send my regards and best wishes upon your house alright?" He gave an overly dramatic bow as he handed the handle of the cart to Anastasia, and gave a wink to Erica as the maid trailed behind causing her to bristle visibly. Anne held in her sudden oncoming giggle fit and bowed back. "Of course. You know she just loves to hear about the gruff, sweaty blacksmith in the city who secretly pines for her" she replied, adding a sarcastic tone. She could not imagine this man actually taking an interest in her own mother. The lady was an amazon. A trait she admired with much reluctance. As they stepped through the door they heard Vlad call out to them. "Take care now, pupil mine!" Erica suffered one more glare at the store front as they began to make their way back out into the city.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Most of the imagery I create is envisioned before hand, but this chapter was mostly just a vague concept when I began writing it. Hope it came out alright.
> 
> Ideas for Vladimir's forge came from star wars 2, the clone wars.

**Author's Note:**

> This is a story that takes place in a kind of 18th century in a fantasy world of my own creation. All of the cities in this story will be modeled off of norse mythological realms within the world tree, hence the name "Yggdrasil". Hope you enjoyed the forst chapter. Two will be up soon.


End file.
